


Of Fire and Rain (A Knight's Last Breath)

by ZombieliciousXIII



Series: The Life and Times of Superheroes and Villains [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Avengers Feels, Character Death, Death, Feels, Heavy Angst, M/M, Not Happy, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Sad, Sad Ending, Steve Rogers Feels, Stony - Freeform, Superhusbands, Team as Family, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump, You've been warned, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 04:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieliciousXIII/pseuds/ZombieliciousXIII
Summary: The dust stung his eyes and nose, the smell of copper heavy and sickeningly thick in the air, “T-Tony, why?”“I…had to protect…protect my best fella," Tony coughs wetly, blood spilling down his chin, crimson mixing into his goatee like a ghoulish painting.





	Of Fire and Rain (A Knight's Last Breath)

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a creation born from a prompt given to me by a friend in the form of 2 poems she'd written, and I was told any story, any pairing, and this is what happened...it's not a happy story, but honestly probably one of my favorites ever written. Prepare for FEELS! I would say I'm sorry, but ultimately, I'm really not because I love this story too much. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did!

He’d survived it all; the betrayal of the only father he thought he’d ever had, or perhaps never did, when Obadiah tried to kill him; survived the poisoning of the very invention he’d created to keep him alive, defying the odds by creating a new element; flying a nuke into space, because there was no other way, and fell only to come back gasping to life.

Tony Stark had survived it all, was stronger than the indestructible metal alloy he’d encased himself in, or so Steve had believed.

_“Mornin’ Cap,” Tony greets, voice sleep-soft as crow’s feet wrinkled the corners of his eyes - another imperfection that perfected the man._

_“Morning Tony,” Steve whispers back, leaning forward to steal another kiss, one of many, and knew he’d never tire of them._

_The flame Steve felt burning for the man kindled brighter in these moments, and he relished in the warmth it brought._

The moment they’d met their words were twisted in magic and barbs, cutting and biting, were spat as freely as a snake’s venom. They’d survived it. They’d survived the dissidence, resolved the distrust that tainted every embrace - every _kiss_. They’d laid together, embraced every dawn in the soft glow of the morning light, and Steve prayed to never lose this, to never lose Tony, not again - _never_ again.

And yet…here they were.

 _Stark was a futurist, and perhaps that had always been his greatest strength and his glaring flaw, but to Steve he was the way forward; the embodiment of everything the world he’d woken up in was and could be, if only_ Tony _could believe in himself as much as Steve believes in him. His knight in shining armor, a knight who never saw himself as the hero he_ truly _was._

_Tony’s eyes are cast down, body shaking, “I’ll never understand what you see in me…I’m only going to leave you broken and alone, Steve.”_

_Steve wraps his arms around the inventor’s trembling form, “you may not see what I see, but you’re my best fella and I believe in you, Tony…I love you.”_

_It’s then the man breaks, choking back sobs as he leans back into his lover’s chest, but clings to him just as hard. Steve doesn’t dare let go; never again, and knows Tony shares the near-overwhelming feeling just as deeply._

_Tony burned hot and bright, an eternal flame Steve would never hesitate to give his entire being to._

The dust stung his eyes and nose, the smell of copper heavy and sickeningly thick in the air, “T-Tony, why?”

“I…had to protect…protect my best fella," Tony coughs wetly, blood spilling down his chin, crimson mixing into his goatee like a ghoulish painting.

_Tony clung to Steve, lithe arms wrapped around his broad shoulders as he thrust into the man, each movement deeper and more powerful than the last, “Steve!”_

_“Tony, my beautiful fella,” Steve rasps, breathing hotly against the man’s marked neck - against Steve’s claims on his golden skin._

_They fall over the edge together in a symphony of reckless abandon and adoration, their shared climaxes coursing through each of their nerve endings, and never had Steve felt so complete. They collapsed entwined, neither ready to let go, and Steve doesn’t fight back the smile that curls his lips when Tony kisses his jaw._

_“I love you, Steven Grant Rogers,” Tony whispers, a secret vow for only Steve to hear, and right then the Captain knew he could never be as happy as he was in that moment._

_The kindling of a single light burned hot and blinding, a city on fire, and never would Steve have thought flames could be so beautiful - so addictive._

The plasma blast from the alien robot’s repulsers had pierced through the armor, the warped metal of Tony’s chest and abdominal plates were now con-caved and charred - no longer the stunning red and gold they’d always been, even in the worst of battles. The blast had ripped through Tony, the congealing crimson splattered all over the man - the fresh bright blood that continued to seep from him - was a reminder they didn’t have long; no one would come in time, no one could save the man he loved…they had but moments left.

“Tony-”

_It hadn’t been a hard decision to come to, the only difficulty was getting Tony to realize his intention._

_“Cap, I think you should get off your knees before we end up having to call Life Support,” Stark jokes, grinning down at his lover._

_Steve huffs fondly, Tony’s sarcasm was always more fond these past few years - less of the shield to his emotions as they had once been, “Tony you goon, I’m askin’ ya to marry me, so why don’t you just say yes and save us the hassle?”_

_For once in their long relationship, Steve had managed to render the man with all the words silent for the first time, “you- fuck I…yes! Of course! YES!”_

_The bellowing cheers of their friends - of the family they’d cultivated over the years - washes over them, but all Steve can hear is Tony, relishing in the softly muttered repeated word of ‘yes’. His heart swelled, feeling like he’d almost drown with the happiness that consumed him as he clung to the smaller man - to his husband._

_“I love you, Steve,” Tony cries into his shoulder, clutching at his dampening shirt, Steve could feel the smile against his neck. “I love you so much.”_

_“I love you too, Tony…forever and always.”_

_Steve feels the flames licking at his skin, but he doesn’t shy away from the heat, instead he turns towards it and welcomes the bright and ever growing fire; silently swearing himself to Tony’s hearth, a devout believer._

_Forever and always._

They hadn’t known about the bomb, but the moment they did Steve didn’t hesitate to run into the stricture to save the innocents caught in the crossfire, and yet despite knowing he’d done what _had_ to be done…the regret strangled him. It had been during the evacuation that Tony dove in, at a sound-barrier-shattering level of speed, reaching Steve _just_ in time; just in time to take the blast that had been intended for _him._

“Tony…please, help is coming-”

“We know they won’t…won’t get here in time,” Tony chokes out, but reaches out a trembling armored hand - Steve doesn’t hesitate to take it in his own gloved ones, and wishes for nothing more than to feel the rough skin of his husband’s hand. “Watch after…after everyone, yeah? They need you…P-Peter especially, he’s a good…a good kid….”

“I will Tony, I _swear_ I will,” Steve promises, gripping the gauntlet in his trembling fists, fighting back the tears that threaten to drown him alive.

"I love you, Steve…f-forever and…and always….”

“I love you too, Tony, I love you so much baby- Tony? Tony, no, _nononono_ …TONY!” Steve cries, heart stuttering in his chest. “Please don’t…don’t leave me, _please,”_ he cries, but the limp form of Iron Man doesn’t shift despite his pleas, the armored limb in his own now heavy.

It’s as he feels the rain beginning to pour down on him, droplets of water washing away the crimson Tony left behind, that Steve collapses and wretches; never had the rain burned his skin so badly. Acidic against him as he cried out for his husband. Steve hears the running footsteps, the panicked cries of his teammates as they rush over to them, Natasha shouting out instructions and Thor trying to tear away Tony’s chest plate to find a way to help; hears Clint yelling for the medical team, the Hulk bellowing in anguish and Parker’s choked up stuttered words that _it’ll be okay, Tony will be okay, because Tony_ has _to be okay;_ but it was all too late because…because Tony was _gone._

It was he watched the flames - the ones that Steve had seen once burn so _brightly_ within Tony - dying with the man he loved, that Steve realized the flames had never been his friend, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow that was...heavy. Fuck, I'm actually tearing up over here. Please tell me what you thought in the comments below, and I'm sorry for all the feels!!! xxoxoo
> 
> (This story has also been posted on Tumblr under my same username, but nowhere else, so if you find it elsewhere please let me know!!)


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